Cover Art / Decisions

Wednesday night

My employer sent me over to the office of a company that published a large, glossy magazine; something that would interest the trend setters and fashion-obsessed. I was wearing my yellow/gold jacket from L.L. Bean, so this must have happened in the fall. While waiting for my appointment, I noticed a strange pair of glasses on a table. (Imagine thick black retro horn-rims encased in / attached to clear plastic safety goggles.) I thought, "I've gotta try these." I put on the funky glasses and whirled around to look for a reflective surface -- either a mirror or a window. As I turned, the magazine's photographer saw me, and took my picture. Later, she decided that she really liked the image -- I was somewhat blurred, due to being captured in motion, but was staring at the camera -- and picked me as that issue's cover subject. When the issue came out, I got a copy and brought it home. I placed it in the middle of some of my wife's magazines on the coffee table, so I could surprise her and enjoy her reaction.

Dream 2: Decisions

My wife and I owned a red brick home in Arlington, Virginia, in a fairly new development. We were one of two families who shared a semi-circular driveway that led out onto Williamsburg Boulevard. We felt very fortunate to live in such a nice area, approximately three blocks from my parent's old house, and not far from where my brothers and I went to elementary school. Even though there were only two houses on our "street," Rudy Giuliani campaigned there one day, pulling up in our driveway in a large black limo.

As we settled into our home, my wife and I decided that we might want to adopt two children, and that meant that we had some tough decisions to make. We loved our house, and it would be great for the kids to go to my former school, which is top-notch, but it might not be safe for them to play so close to the boulevard, which can be a pretty busy street sometimes.

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Dream 1: Cover Art

I've been meaning to take that L.L. Bean jacket out of the closet and repair the pocket. I was running around the house in big hurry last year, caught the pocket on something, and practically tore it off.

I saw somebody on TV wearing protective goggles the other day, but can't remember the context.

I'm sure that I've absorbed many comedy routines making fun of trend setters and "the latest styles," reaching back to "Hard Day's Night," episodes of "I Love Lucy," and beyond. Come to think of it, James Stewart dismissed the entire fashion industry in one of my favorite films, "Rear Window."

Dream 2: Decisions

I wish I lived in a brick home in Arlington. The housing development mentioned in my dream does not exist. Yet.